Most Mysterious Manuscript

The Voynich manuscript has eluded interpretation for a century. It was written in Central Europe in the 15th century and rediscovered by antique book dealer…Read More »

in 1912. Despite intense scrutiny, no one has been able to read the mysterious script. Less «

2 of 8

Voynich Text

Credit: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University

The Voynich manuscript's unintelligible writings and strange illustrations have defied every attempt at understanding their meaning.

3 of 8

10 Words

Credit: YouTube | Stephen Bax

In February 2014, one researcher said he was able to decipher 10 words and 14 characters in the text, including the word for coriander.

4 of 8

Unknown Names

Credit: YouTube | Stephen Bax

Stephen Bax, a professor of applied linguistics at the University of Bedfordshire in England, said he used the same approach that scholars have previously…Read More »

used to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs and other texts, which involves first identifying proper names for things like plants and stars. Less «

5 of 8

Reading the Stars

Credit: YouTube | Stephen Bax

Beyond illustrations of plants, the manuscript also contains drawings of the constellations like Taurus — another noun Bax was able to decode.

6 of 8

The Voynich Manuscript

Credit: The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Credit: The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

7 of 8

Centaurea

Credit: YouTube | Stephen Bax

Bax also found a possible word for the centaurea flower in the 600-year-old script.

8 of 8

Swirling bodies

Credit: Public Domain

Here, a three-page foldout from the Voynich manuscript that appears to be astronomical.

Science Newsletter: Subscribe

Follow Us

More from LiveScience

Author Bio

Megan Gannon

Megan started writing for Live Science and Space.com in 2012. Her interests range from archaeology to space exploration, and she has a bachelor's degree in English and art history from New York University. Megan spent two years as a reporter on the national desk at NewsCore. She has watched dinosaur auctions, witnessed rocket launches, licked ancient pottery sherds in Cyprus and flown in zero gravity. Follow her on Twitter and Google+.